The government has forced the government to impose an internet shutdown and deploy the military onto the streets in response to the most recent developments on Friday. The sounds of gunfire and tear gas were heard on Thursday in Dar-es-Salaam, a city of more than seven million people, where protesters who defied a curfew were confronted by the Mbagala, Gongo la Mboto, and Kiluvya neighbourhoods.
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On Wednesday afternoon, as young people took to the streets to protest opposition leaders’ limited election options and harassment, chaos erupted. Protesters set on fire several vehicles, a gas station, and police stations.
At least two people died this week, according to Amnesty International.
The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has ruled Tanzania since independence in 1961, was attempting to extend its rule in the electoral process on Wednesday.
Infuriating citizens and rights organizations have decried an intensifying crackdown against opposition members, activists, and journalists as a result of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s and two biggest challengers being excluded from the election on Wednesday.
Hassan took office in 2021 after John Magufuli’s death, and she has received growing criticism for what the UN has called a pattern of “escalating” attacks, disappearances, and torture of critics.
After long-standing leaders in the Ivory Coast and Cameroon, who both clung to power, this is the most recent election in Africa to wreak deep rage among the electorate.
After the Independent National Electoral Commission disqualified , Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, in April for refusing to sign an electoral code of conduct, only minor opposition figures were eligible to contest the election.
The decision was made days after Tundu Lissu, the party’s leader, was detained and charged with treason at a rally where he called for electoral reforms.
Following the attorney general’s objection, the commission also forbade Luhaga Mpina, the opposition candidate for ACT-Wazalendo, whose second-largest party is ACT-Wazalendo.
Over the past few months, local and international watchdogs have been raising concerns about election-related violence and repression.
A panel of nine UN experts said the government’s actions were “unacceptable” and that they had reported more than 200 disappearances since 2019; they had also called them “unacceptable.”
Additionally, Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced in September that it had documented at least 10 recent instances of politically motivated assault, harassment, abduction, and torture as well as “extensive restrictions” on the media and civil society organizations.
Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka, a researcher for HRW in South Africa, previously warned that Tanzania’s elections were “very vulnerable.”
Masiko-Mpaka argued that the authorities should stop censoring opposition voices and the media and instead engage in meaningful reforms to guarantee free, fair, and credible elections.
Massive fraud in Zanzibar
The semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, which remained calm on Friday despite heavy military presence, remained unaffected. The ruling CCM is now in charge of the presidency.
The incumbent, President Hussein Mwinyi, had 78.8% of the votes, according to the Zanzibar electoral commission’s report on Thursday.
The opposition announced it would reveal its next steps and claimed there was “massive fraud” in Zanzibar’s results.
The government has delayed the government’s planned reopening of colleges and universities for next Monday because the protests have spread throughout the nation.
